UNITED STATES.
April 1—Secretary Bryan orders an inquiry into the circumstances of the arrest by the authorities in Paris of Raymond Rolfe Swoboda, stated to be an American citizen, held in connection with the recent fire on the French liner La Touraine in mid-ocean; the State Department is investigating the death of Leon Chester Thrasher of Hardwick, Mass., who was lost when the British steamer Falaba was sunk by a German submarine; information is being sought as to whether Thrasher was an American citizen at the time of his death.
April 2—The Government is informed by the British Government, through Ambassador Page, that no trade messages can be sent over British cables if they refer to transactions in which the enemies of Britain are interested.
April 5—Text is made public of the United States note to Germany, recently presented by Ambassador Gerard, demanding payment by the German Government of $228,059.54, with interest from Jan. 28, for the destruction of the American sailing ship William P. Frye by the German converted cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich; Secretary Bryan makes public the text of the identic notes recently sent by the United States to the British and French Governments protesting against invasion of neutral rights involved in the recent British Order in Council, establishing a long-range blockade of European waters; the note insists on the right of innocent shipments "to be freely transported to and from the United States through neutral countries to belligerent territory, without being subjected to the penalties of contraband traffic or breach of blockade, much less to detention, requisition, or confiscation"; it is reported from Washington that the reason for the order, issued a few days ago, for the recall of the five American Army officers who have been acting as military observers in Germany, is due to the growing feeling of hostility to Americans in Germany, and the belief that it is wise to withdraw the officers before they become involved in any incident that might cause embarrassment in American-German relations; Dudley Field Malone, Collector of the Port of New York, announces that he has evidence of a widespread conspiracy to violate President Wilson's neutrality proclamation through the establishment here of an agency to supply the British warships lying outside the three-mile zone with food and fuel; he asks the Government for additional warships to protect the harbor's neutrality.
April 6—An official message from Berlin is issued by the German Embassy at Washington giving an intimation that Germany would not regard with favor the idea of paying damages for the death of Leon Chester Thrasher; the statement says that neutrals were warned not to cross the war zone; the German Embassy gives out a statement on the stopping of the German merchant ship Odenwald, halted by a shot across her bows when she was attempting to leave San Juan, Porto Rico, without clearance papers, on March 22; statement refers to the episode as an "attack," and says "a sharp fire" was opened, but the American official report shows that only warning shots were fired.
April 7—British Government denies Collector Malone's charge that British warships have been receiving supplies from ports of the United States in violation of neutrality; acting upon a request of the German Ambassador, the Government is making a new investigation of the Odenwald case.
April 8—Secretary Bryan makes public the reply of the German Government to the American claim for compensation for the loss of the William P. Frye; Germany is willing to pay both for ship and cargo, basing this readiness wholly on treaties of 1799 and 1828 between the United States and Prussia, but under international law justifying the destruction of both ship and cargo; Collector Malone says investigation shows that charges that supplies have been sent to British warships from New York in violation of neutrality were part of a plot to involve this country in trouble with England.
April 11—Count von Bernstorff, the German Ambassador, makes public a memorandum addressed to the United States Government and delivered several days ago, charging in effect that the United States is violating the true spirit of neutrality by permitting vast quantities of arms to be shipped to England, France, and Russia, and characterizing as a failure the diplomatic efforts of the United States to effect shipment of food supplies to Germany; the memorandum intimates that the United States maintained a true spirit of neutrality to Mexico in placing an embargo on arms exports to Huerta and Carranza, and quotes a statement attributed to President Wilson on the Mexican situation.
April 13—The Government War Risk Insurance Bureau settles its first claim for losses by paying $401,000 to the owners of the American steamer Evelyn, sunk off the coast of Holland, supposedly by a mine, on Feb. 21; London reports that negotiations are under way for a short-term loan of $100,000,000 to England by American interests.
April 14—Secretary Bryan announces that arrangements have been completed with the British Government by which two shiploads of dyestuffs may be shipped from Germany to the United States without interference from British warships.
April 15—The text is made public of a letter written by Theodore Roosevelt to Mrs. George Rublee of Washington, in opposition to the principles advanced by the Woman's Party for Constructive Peace, in which he says the platform is "both silly and base"; at a meeting in New York of the Central Federated Union a resolution is passed in favor of a general strike in those industries employed in producing munitions of war.
April 16—The American Locomotive Company has practically completed arrangements with the Russian Government for the manufacture of $65,000,000 worth of shrapnel shells.
April 17—The Hamburg-American steamship Georgia is transferred to American registry and renamed the Housatonic.
April 20—French military authorities decide to abandon the charge of setting fire to La Touraine preferred against Raymond Swoboda, because of lack of evidence.
April 21—The Government replies to the recent memorandum from Ambassador von Bernstorff on American neutrality; the American answer regrets use of language that seems to impugn our good faith, and it restates our position; it declares that we have at no time yielded any of our rights as a neutral, and that we cannot prohibit exportation of arms to belligerents, because to do so would be an unjustifiable breach of our neutrality; the State Department has cabled the American Consul at Warsaw to report fully on the present situation of Jews in Poland.
April 23—The Telefunken wireless plant at Sayville, L.I., through which the German Government and its embassy at Washington chiefly communicate, has been trebled in power for the purpose of overcoming climatic conditions likely in Summer to be unfavorable for the handling of messages; Secretary Bryan is refusing to issue passports to Americans who wish to visit belligerent countries in Europe for sightseeing purposes.
April 28—Secretary Bryan replies to the German note on the sinking of the American ship William P. Frye; the answer declares that the destruction of the vessel was "unquestionably" a violation of existing treaties between the United States and Prussia; the answer states that the American Government does not believe the matter should go before a prize court, as suggested by the German note.
April 29—Samuel Pearson, who was a Boer General in the Boer war and is an American citizen, begins an action in Wisconsin aimed at preventing shipment of munitions of war from the United States to the enemies of Germany; a complaint is filed on Pearson's behalf under the so-called "Discovery" statute of Wisconsin, to obtain information whether the Allis-Chalmers Company and others have entered into a conspiracy with the Bethlehem Steel Company and others to manufacture and ship shrapnel shells to European belligerents contrary to Wisconsin law.
April 30—Directions are given by President Wilson for an investigation to be made of the Pearson bill of complaint; German Embassy at Washington publishes an advertisement in the newspapers declaring that "travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk."